Clara Harris' defense tab will standDentist who killed her husband owes lawyer more than $400,000 for 2 trials

RUTH RENDON, Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle |
March 1, 2008

Clara Harris said she signed a $300,000 promissory note while under suicide watch.

Jurors on Friday found that defense attorney George Parnham did not overcharge or abuse the attorney-client privilege during the well-publicized 2003 murder case of Clara Harris.

Harris, the Friendswood dentist who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for running over her husband, still owes Parnham $70,250 for expenses arising from the murder trial, the jury decided. She also must pay $389,443 for Parnham's legal representation during a civil trial.

Harris had sued Parnham, claiming she signed a $300,000 promissory note to him while she was under suicide watch in the Harris County Jail and that he had released confidential information about her to other attorneys as well as to media outlets.

Jurors took just under three hours to reach an 11-1 verdict. In civil cases, at least 10 jurors must agree. The jury in state District Judge Sharolyn Wood's court had up to 14 questions to answer before coming to a conclusion.

"It's been a long five years, and we've been fighting to have our charter resurrected and our integrity righted," Parnham said after the two-week trial. "The verdict doesn't erase everything, but it gives us a fresh start."

While Parnham shook his head in agreement when the verdict was read, Harris, 50, stood motionless before being escorted by bailiffs out of the courtroom.

"I think we had our day in court, and I respect the jury's verdict," said Dean Blumrosen, who represented Harris.

Harris hired Parnham days after she was arrested for running over her orthodontist husband, David, with her Mercedes-Benz in the parking lot of the Nassau Bay Hilton Hotel. Moments earlier, Harris had confronted her husband of 10 years and his mistress, Gail Bridges, in the hotel lobby.

In the 25-page charge to the jury, the panel answered "yes" to whether Parnham had complied with his fiduciary duty to Harris. Jurors found that Parnham did not engage in any false, misleading or deceptive act in getting Harris to sign the promissory note nor that she was fraudulently induced into signing the document.

Juror Nick Pagel, 28, said no one piece of evidence persuaded the panel to reach its decision.

"A lot of us were going back and forth. In the end, it started to fall into place," said Pagel, who owns a landscaping company.

Blumrosen had argued that Parnham promoted his own interest at the expense of Harris. He pointed to Parnham agreeing to cooperate with author Steve Long, who was writing a book about Harris' murder case. The book agreement was made two weeks after being hired and without Harris' consent or knowledge, Blumrosen said.

Parnham was accused of releasing family photos to Long and agreeing to have a national television program record his preparations for the trial.

The program was part of media strategy to thwart the bad publicity from a video showing Harris driving in circles over her husband. Blumrosen, however, pointed out that the video was sealed and not released until the murder trial.

Harris, Blumrosen said, did not know the program was embargoed until after her trial.

Charles "Chip" Babcock told jurors during closing arguments late Thursday that Parnham's professional life was at stake.

During the trial, Harris testified that she felt betrayed when she learned that the day jurors were deliberating on her sentence, Parnham was making arrangements with his attorneys to draw up the promissory note. Months after the trial, Harris received a nearly $11,000 bill from Parnham's attorneys who drew up the promissory note. Parnham has since agreed to pay the bill himself.

Throughout the trial Babcock portrayed Harris as a controlling person who knew all about the trial preparations, the media strategy and the promissory note.

In a January 2007 civil case, jurors ordered Harris to pay her in-laws $3.75 million for their pain and suffering.